The 9th annual Vancouver Triathlon takes place on Monday, September 6, and WWF-Canada is once again privileged to be the charity partner for this amazing and fun event.

Last week, the 2010 Students on Ice Arctic Youth Expedition drew to a close. Hearing the students’ stories brought back memories for WWF-Canada team member Erinn Piller, who started her journey with us as a passenger on the journey three years ago.

“There are many people who don’t believe this actually happened. They think it’s some phantasm of my imagination. But it was real. There are the facts.”

Canadians love their shorelines. I was reminded of just how much last week at Ashbridge’s Bay in Toronto, where I was helping coordinate a group of fish sculptures made of typical shoreline litter materials to raise awareness and encourage registration for the upcoming Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup.

It is not often that I get a chance to get out in the field and see where the species that I write press releases and communications plans about actually live, but a few weeks ago I went on vacation with family and friends to some cottages in Digby, Nova Scotia.

We rely on volunteer site coordinators across the country to make the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup a success. Gisela has brought her passion for nature to the shoreline!

We are nearing the expedition’s end. Our onboard team – or rather, family – begins to collect the pieces and connect the dots between the words and the direct effects of climate change.

It has taken humanity less than nine months to exhaust its ecological budget for the year, according to data from Global Footprint Network, a California-based environmental research organization.

Two evenings back, I gave an introductory presentation on climate change – the raw basics. The questions from these people are directly hitting the nail on the head, ranging from topics including renewable energy, oil drilling in the high arctic, and climate change impact on the oceans.

Staff and volunteers in our Prince Rupert office have a great job this summer. We’re getting to know our shoreline – over 80 km of it! – as part of a project to update existing information on the habitat value of the shoreline around Kaien Island.

Clear crisp sky. Unbroken satin ocean. Bare rock island. We glide by quietly in the zodiac, as hundreds of walruses own the shores with their becks and calls.

The 10-year-old country girl in me has wondered for the past year, “Why in the world do I live in Toronto?” The city is vibrant, deep, wondrous – yet it is still a city. And no matter how hard I try to fully embrace that home, my veins still race with dreams of greenery and fresh breezes and a pure sense of stillness. As we sat on shore amidst mist-grazed grass and crumbled rocky slopes hugging our perimeter, overlooking Douglas Bay, that feeling was once-again revived.

Join the Vancouver Aquarium and WWF-Canada for the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup (GCSC) on September 18 to 26. This environmental initiative is for everyone who cares about the environment and wants to be a part of the solution.

The excitement was palpable in Ottawa’s beautifully restored Museum of Nature. Eighty university and high school students from five countries grinned through a “speed dating” session with the 35 authors, artists, elders, media celebrities, polar scientists, educators and researchers accompanying them on an adventure of a lifetime.

Sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean’s “Main Development Region” for hurricanes were at record levels in July. Jeff Masters says that “the five warmest months in history for the tropical Atlantic have all occurred this year.”